My life over the past ten years has been devoted to the care of Dr. and Mrs. Teller. Now upon their passing, there is a void in my life, but it will be filled by the many wonderful memories I have of being with them throughout these years.

One of my most amazing memories is being introduced to hyperbaric oxygen therapy by Dr. Edward Teller and Dr. Richard Neubauer in 1993. I had recently been hired as a nurse and companion for Dr. Teller’s wife, Mici, and as manager of their household staff. At this time, Mici had been diagnosed with advanced lung disease, and because of a lack of oxygen reaching her brain, her behavior was similar to that of paranoia and schizophrenic. This bleak prognosis made life very unhappy for everyone. It was then that Dr. Neubauer arranged to have a Vickers hyperbaric chamber sent to the Teller’s home to treat both Mici and Dr. Teller.

I was charged with the responsibility of getting this machine set up with all proper safety equipment in place. Though I had worked in the medical field for many years, this procedure was entirely new to me, but I did the best I could and quickly learned a whole new aspect of medical care.

At this point, Mici rapidly began to deteriorate and her pulmonologist at Stanford predicted that she had only about two weeks to live. As many of you know, proper chamber installation, particularly in the home setting, is far from a simple task and takes a good deal of time to ensure that all safety measures are taken into consideration. I knew I would be unable to have the chamber installed and operational quickly enough to try and save Mici’s life. I immediately made some arrangements with Dr. David Hughes at The Hyperbaric Oxygen Institute in San Bernardino, CA, to begin her treatments. After organizing my staff so that I could travel with her, we went first to UCLA Santa Monica for a SPECT brain scan, then on to San Bernardino where we began treatments at once. Mici responded well and we returned home one week later.

In July 1995, with the home chamber finally in place, I started daily hyperbaric treatments for both Dr. Teller and Mici. Although only given a few weeks to live, Mici flourished and was able to enjoy a quality of life for the next five years. In June of 2000, she succumbed to pneumonia at the age of 91. Dr. Teller continued his treatments, eventually having over 3,000 treatments since 1995. After each treatment, he always had more physical strength and mental alertness. His mind retained its genius status and he continued working at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and Hoover Institute until five days before his death.

I truly thank Dr. Teller for teaching me what he knew about hyperbaric oxygen and what he gave to research, as he believed it really works, especially for neurological indications. I plan to carry out his wishes by opening a hyperbaric center in his name in Northern California to research and treat patients with similar problems and conditions. I will also follow his beliefs that “Oxygen under pressure does follow all of the gas laws of physics”.

I will truly miss my adopted father, but the legacy he left was not only in science and physics, but also in the day-to-day applications of hyperbaric medicine.

Patty Weible

Stanford, CA